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Human rights due diligence in Block 57

At Repsol Exploration Peru, we develop our operations in accordance with our Human Rights and Community Relations Policy and incorporate sustainability criteria in all our activities.

Social management in Block 57

In the area of influence of Block 57 live indigenous native communities from the Lower Urubamba, mostly belonging to the Matsigenka, Kakintes, Yines, and Ashaninka ethnic groups.

For the operation phase, we are moving towards sustainable coexistence, which is based on reputation and sustainability as viewed by employees, contractors, communities, and other strategic stakeholders due to an effective performance and relationship with them. In order to carry out this work, we count on several strategic pillars:

Impacts, risks, and opportunities management

Social investment

Community monitoring

Negotiation

Aerial shot of Block 57 surrounded by a forest

1. Impacts, risks, and opportunities management

Following the Human Rights Due Diligence process and meeting the company's commitments, a social baseline and a Human Rights Impact Assessment were developed in 2022.

These were carried out with the assistance of independent external experts who worked in the field with the participation of the communities and supporting the empowerment of the legitimately recognized authorities. As a result, it was the communities themselves who identified the impacts and the necessary mitigation measures.

We had the support of Mashiguenga and Ashaninka indigenous leaders who were in charge of implementing the surveys by conducting interviews with community leaders and chiefs, discussion groups, and traditional authorities. The study gathered the opinions from the interviewees, as well as the collective imaginary and worldview reflected in the discourse of the indigenous communities. This information was contrasted with focus groups in gatherings and meetings with the leaders and members of the communities of Nuevo Mundo, Porotobango, Kitepampani, Shivankoreni, Camisea, and Carpintero Kiriguetty.

The main social impacts were related to the ILO Convention No. 169, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights; and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:

Negative impacts:

Right to develop strategies for the use of land and territory
Right not to be discriminated against due to their indigenous status
Right to a healthy environment
Right to preserve and protect the environment

Positive impacts:

Right to decent economic conditions
Right to decent work
Right to freely develop their capabilities and to be trained on the job

The communities proposed measures to mitigate the negative impacts and to enhance the positive. Those actions being carried out by Repsol Peru E&P to implement the mitigation measures proposed by the communities are aligned with the rest of the Social Management pillars.

The main actions related to the Impacts, Risks, and Opportunities Management pillar are:

Una reunión de una comunidad en el lote 57

Repsol Consultas Complaint and Grievance Program

We established a communication channel and early warning tool so that stakeholders may express their grievances, complaints, and worries freely, in a timely manner, in their native tongue without fear of retaliation in order to promote a culture of dialogue and positive relations.

This tool was designed in collaboration with communities who validated the process, made necessary changes to the text in their native language machiguenga, and proposed illustrations. This ensured that the tool was interculturally designed with a focus on its diffusion, availability, and accessibility for all people in the community.

Community engagement

We frequently hold informative meetings with authorities and the populations, where information is shared, questions are answered, suggestions are taken into consideration to improve social management processes, commitments with the communities are followed up, and trust is strengthened with them. Therefore, this enables us to have an active and strategic presence.

2. Social investment

Repsol provides Social Investment tools to the communities in Block 57's area of influence that allow them to propose development projects according to their priorities. Within this framework, numerous projects have been executed that were chosen by the communities themselves at the Communal Assembly level. These projects seek to improve the access of indigenous communities to adequate housing and basic services in order to make progress on closing social gaps.

Some of the projects carried out with the communities were:

Housing

Construction of housing in the Nuevo Mundo and Kitepampani communities.

Water systems

Improving water systems in the Shivankoreni and Sensa communities.

Satellite internet

Supplying satellite internet to the Asháninka communities.

Example of social investment in the Río Tambo district

At Repsol, we support entrepreneurship projects in the native communities, and one example of this has been the Chocolates Río Tambo Project. In the Río Tambo district in the Junín Province, during abandonment operations on exploratory wells Mapi and Mashira, Repsol contributed to the development of the Asháninka Kemito Sankori Cooperative and to its brand Río Tambo through the indigenous organization Central Asháninka del Río Tambo (CART), which represents the Asháninka nation.

Currently, Chocolates Río Tambo is made with an environmentally-friendly, social, cultural, and fair trade approach by the Asháninka Kemito Sankori Cooperative. Repsol serves as a showcase for its exposure and progress by selling the product at its service stations in Peru. Furthermore, we promote the Río Tambo products by purchasing them for corporate gifts given their high quality.

We're able to contribute to the well-being of more than 220 Asháninka families from 16 native communities along the bank of the Río Tambo that take part of the Kemito Sankori cooperative. Their goal is clear: to achieve economic autonomy and preserve their culture.

3. Community monitoring

The Block 57 operations have participatory community monitoring teams as established in the Sagari and Kinteroni Environmental Impact Assessment. These teams are: the Lower Urubamba environmental and community monitoring team (EMMAC, for its Spanish initials), the Yori River community environmental monitoring team (EMACRY), and the Kinteroni citizen monitoring and surveillance team (PROMOVICK). These teams represent 14 communities of the Lower Urubamba in the area of influence.

They are the "eyes" of the communities in the operations to ensure compliance with action plans derived from impacts and to promote socio-environmental care, generating environmental citizenship in their territories.

An agreement is currently in place with Perupetro (a state-owned, private law company in the Energy and Mining sector) whose objective is to promote investment in hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation activities. This agreement unites the efforts by the State, communities, and private companies to protect and care for the environment by strengthening the capabilities of local leaders and promoting environmental awareness and community organization. To date, the following advances have been made:

community monitors

trained in public and hydrocarbon management

community monitors

trained in environmental management

community monitors

trained in office skills

4. Negotiation

We have a Negotiation Roadmap that is aligned with best practices and standards to ensure transparent, respectful, and fair negotiations for the company, communities, and organizations.

We've overcome cultural barriers by adapting the necessary forms and documents for implementing due diligence in Block 57 to the social reality of the communities and organizations. This involved prioritizing sustainable coexistence with our neighbors and respecting their rights and worldview. Adaptations include:

Adaptation of internal questionnaires: It involved creating a specific version for indigenous native communities of Block 57 so that their content and purpose is clearly understood.
New contractual compliance clauses: They were adapted to the awareness and understanding of the indigenous native communities and organizations to be used in the agreements, arrangements, and contracts signed with them.

In this way, we recognize the needs of the company and respond by incorporating the cultural diversity, awareness, and context of our neighbors by doing everything, respectfully and in good practice, necessary to ensure they comprehend and accept due diligence measures. This also helps to minimize the risk of misinterpretations and potential cultural conflicts, and this behavior reinforces Repsol's commitment to human rights regarding community engagement. Furthermore, it's a sign of anticipating the challenges of tomorrow by creating sustainable initiatives.

Contributing to the United Nations 2030 Agenda

Through the SDGs in a positive way.

SDG 8

Decent work and economic growth

SDG 11

Sustainable cities and development

SDG 12

Responsible consumption and production

SDG 16

Peace, justice, and strong institutions

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